Top Ten New Species Discovered

On May 22nd, the SUNY-ESF Institute for Species Exploration announced ten recently discovered species that topped its list, ranging from a one-celled organism to a much larger tree species (SUNY stands for State University of New York and ESF stands for Environmental Science and Forestry). The Olinguito mammal (in the raccoon family) lives in the Andes mountains of Colombia and Ecuador. Kaweesak's Dragon Tree was discovered in Loei and Lop Buri provinces in Thailand. Named after the Antarctic Geological Drilling Program (ANDRILL), the ice-dwelling Andrill Anemone were discovered under a glacier on Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf. Aptly named for its appearance, tiny Skeleton Shrimp were found in a cave on Santa Catalina island in California, USA.

The Orange Penicillium fungus was discovered in Tunisia soil, while scientists found a type of one-celled Amoeboid Protist in underwater caves in the Mediterranean Sea, specifically off the coast of Spain. Northeastern Australia is a habitat for the rare Leaf-Tailed Gecko. Clean Room Microbes have an interesting discovery story. They were discovered in spacecraft assembly clean rooms, where most microscopic organisms cannot survive, in the USA (Florida) and French Guiana. Another interesting small organism is the Tinkerbell Fairyfly, a parasitic wasp discovered in Costa Rica. Finally, eyeless Domed Land Snails certainly have a ghostly appearance with their translucent shells. They were found in western Croatia's Lukina Jama-Trojama caves.